Gauff breezes past Pironkova in Charleston opener

Coco Gauff kicked off her clay-court campaign on Tuesday night, overpowering Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round of the Volvo Car Open.

The American made short work of her opponent, breaking her Bulgarian opponent six times to cruise through with a 6-3 6-0 victory. Gauff dictated play from the baseline, employing powerful yet precise groundstrokes. Furthermore, she was aggressive on her return, winning over 50% of points on Pironkova's serve.

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After an exchange of breaks early in the first set, it was all Gauff as the 17-year old took control of the match. To her credit, Pironkova never gave up as the World N0.113 fought back but was unable to capitalize on six break points. Gauff proved to be too much, claiming the match after just 72 minutes.

The 14th seed advances to the next round, where she will face Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

wta on Twitter: "Only dropped 3️⃣ games! 😎 @CocoGauff advances to the second round with a straight sets win over Pironkova! #VolvoCarOpen https://t.co/iM4QpO0jFD" / Twitter